Employee Appreciation Day: A Message from Slidell Mayor Ben O. Morris

When Hurricane Katrina devastated much of our city in 2005, we in local government and most of our community leaders took on the challenge of rebuilding what roaring winds and floodwaters had destroyed. And we soon looked upon the recovery effort as an opportunity to make Slidell an even better place to live than it was pre-Katrina.

That attitude has served the city well. But it couldn't have been done without the daily dedication of the valued employees who've stood by their respective public and private employers through thick and thin - the people who quickly seized that opportunity to move us forward much faster than one could have imagined in the dark days immediately following the storm.

Which brings me to Employee Appreciation Day. In many places, including the City of Slidell, it's usually celebrated in early March. Its origins are unclear, and it isn't a day-off-from-work holiday. But its importance should not go overlooked, and the hard work of those who fuel the engine of progress should be recognized on a regular basis.

In the case of city government in Slidell, I'm talking about our more than 300 employees, the mostly faceless men and women without whom the city could not have come as far as it has on the road to recovery.

The politicians - myself included - and police officers are high-profile in the eyes of the public. I won't toot my own horn here, but the police certainly deserve our recognition and support for the risks they take and the work they do. But most of the other 249 of the total 369 city employees - the laborers, secretaries, street maintenance workers, building inspectors, equipment operators, administrators - are all but invisible to the public.

Too often they're taken for granted, despite the fact that their individual and collective efforts enhance our quality of life in ways we frequently are unaware of or fail to notice.

Sadly, in some cases, they're even disdained by people who should know better. That is until, for instance, a neighborhood's normal weekend routine is interrupted by a broken water main and a public utilities crew works over the weekend to repair the line and restore full service.

Should we strive to do better, to do more? Of course we should. We should always do our best for our city. And we will.